British casino worker wins compensation after not being invited to work drinks
The cashier sued Aspers Casino for unfair dismissal and discrimination, but being left out of office drinks is attracting the most attention.
UK.- We’ve seen casinos face lawsuits for various reasons, from regulatory action to disgruntled customers attempting to reclaim lost bets or refused winnings, but this is a first. In the UK, a female casino worker has been awarded compensation after her colleagues didn’t invite her out for after-work drinks.
Rita Leher, who worked at Aspers Casino in Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre in east London, took the casino to a tribunal claiming that she was the only cashier not invited to join work drinks when colleagues went out to cocktail bar Las Iguanas. She’s been awarded £75,000 in compensation.
The Aspers Casino is described as the second biggest in the UK. Leher began working there in November 2011. In reality, the case included other accusations in addition to not being invited to drinks. The 51-year-old also successfully claimed for unfair dismissal and race and age discrimination.
As for the drinks, it appears Leher wasn’t invited because she had made a complaint about another member of staff. However, the tribunal judge said that deliberately leaving her out from work drinks amounted to victimisation.
The court found that “it was at the very least insensitive to discuss the arrangements in front of her when she was not invited”.
The court also heard that in early 2012, Aspers had said it would award gaming and cash desk staff a salary increase of £1,000 to make the successful opening of the casino. However, Leher said she didn’t receive the rise. The court found there was “no reliable explanation” for why not.
It also heard that Leher was repeatedly rejected or ignored when she sought to apply for more senior roles in the company, while cash desk colleagues who were younger and not of mixed race received promotions.
British online betting revenue down 40% in March
The British regulator, the Gambling Commission, has reported that gross gambling yield (GGY) from around 80 per cent of the licensed market was down by 10.3 per cent month-on-month in March. GGY was £362.8m, down from £405m in February.
Online slots revenue rose by 14.6 per cent month-on-month to £192.8m, and online casino by 11.7 per cent to £54.2m, but real-event betting revenue fell by 40.6 per cent to £104.5m with bookmakers running promotions for the Cheltenham Festival.
Online poker GGY was up 4.2 per cent at £6.2m, virtual betting fell 13.7 per cent to £3.5m, other forms of betting rose 19.5 per cent to £1.4m and esports betting GGY fell by 92.8 per cent to £56,001.
British gaming licensees are still waiting for the outcome of the government’s review of gambling legislation. For months, gambling minister Chris Philp has been promising the delayed gambling white paper proposing new regulations would be “coming soon”.
